Improved harness-snap



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PHILIP BEcKMAN, or NAPERVILLE, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVED HARNESS-SNAP.

Specitication forming part of Letters Patent No. 40,152, dated October6, 1863.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PHILIP BECKMAN, of Naperville, in the county of DuPage and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Harness-Snaps; and VI do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description of the same, reference beinghad totheaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a tront elevation of myinven tion. Fig. 2 is a side elevation ot the same.

Similar letters ot reference in both views indicate corresponding parts.

This invention consists in securing the spring to the shank ot' a snaphook in a reverse position, its butt end being fastened to the shanknea-r to the bend. and its loose end extending beyond the point ot thehook close to a guard rising` from the shank and under a lip or stopprojecting from said point toward the spring in such a manner 'that astrain on the ring retained by the snap is sutticient to release thesame without the necessity of depressing the spring with one hand andreleasing the ring with the other; and, furthermore, when the ring is inthe hook, it is securely retained by the combined action of the stop andspring, andthe spring is not liable to be snb jected to an undue strainand to bleak or get deranged.

To enable those skilled in the art to makel and use my invention, I willproceed to de-V scribe it.

A-represents ahook, made of iron or any other suitable material, andprovided with a loop, a, to which a belt or strap can be secured. To theshank of said hook a spring', 1 1, is riveted, and in order to give tothe spring sufficient play, and at the same time preserve the necessarystrength, said shank is provided with a shoulder, b', as clearly shownin Fig. 2.0i the drawings. The spring is secured to the shank in areverse direction, its butt end being near to the bend ot' the hook, andits loose end extending beyond the point c and close to a guard, d,which rises from the shank close behind the ring or loop a. From thepoint cof the hook a lip or stop, c, projects in a direction toward thespring b, and said spring is so adjusted that it bears close against theedge of this lip or stop.

In order to enter a harness-ring into the hook, the same is placedbetween the guard d and the point ot' the hook, and by a slight pressurethe spring` is depressed and the ring slips nnderthe lip cinto the hook.As soon as the ring has passed into the hook,the spring resumes itsoriginal position, and bythe combined action ot' said spring and of thelip or stop e, the ring is prevented from coming ont spontaneously. It'from some cause it should move toward the point of the hook, it isthrown against the stop by the action ot' the spring,and prevented fromgettingdisengaged. In order to release the ring it is not necessary, asit is in ordinary snaps, to depress the spring with one hand and takethe ring out with the other. By moving the ring toward the point ot' thehook and depressing it slightly, it can be disengaged with one hand withthe greatest facility. In winter time it is noteven necessary to takeoff the mittens to accomplish this object.

In short, my hook is cheap and simple in its construction, it is notliable to get out ot order, it is easily operated, and the spring isperfectly protected and not liable to catch and break.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Leiters Patent, is-

A snap having the spring b applied to its shank in a reverse direction,and provided with a guard, d, and stop e, to operate in coinbinationwith said spring, substantially as and for the purpose shown anddescribed.

PHILIP BECKMAN.

